Purdue’s Matt Painter gives take on Bruce Weber firing

Purdue coach Matt Painter is from the same Gene Keady coaching tree as just fired, former Illini Bruce Weber; they’re contemporaries, peers and friends.

They both spend a lot of time screaming at their players to “MOVE” and “MOTION” in the motion offense system that they run. (It’s been a struggle offensively for both teams at times this season).

Following his Boilermakers bad 88-71 loss to Ohio State in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament, Painter was asked what he thought about Weber being canned today: (his response was the polar opposite in emotion and length of the response from MSU coach Tom Izzo)

“It’s obviously very hard for me. He’s a great coach and he’s a better person. I think it’s Illinois’s loss, to be honest with you.

“But the good ones, you know, he’s going to bounce back and he’s going to get a good opportunity. There’s no doubt about that. But it’s hard because if it wasn’t for him and if it wasn’t for Coach Keady, I wouldn’t be here. And I’ve learned a lot of basketball and I’ve learned a lot about life and how to treat people from Coach Weber. You’re not going to find a better guy,” Painter said.

Paul M. Banks is CEO of The Sports Bank.net, an official Google News site generating millions of unique visitors. He’s also a regular contributor to Chicago Now, Walter Football.com, Yardbarker, and Fox Sports

A Fulbright scholar and MBA, Banks has appeared on live radio all over the world; and he’s a member of the Football Writers Association of America, U.S. Basketball Writers Association, and Society of Professional Journalists. The President of the United States follows him on Twitter (@Paul_M_BanksTSB)You should too.